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U.K’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned seven cryptocurrency advertisements. The ads are for Papa John’s Pizza, Coinbase, Kraken, Etoro, Luno, Coinburp, and Exmo. After evaluation, the U.K. advertising watchdog says that the ads are “misleading” and “irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience and for failing to illustrate theErisk of the investment.” U.K’s advertisement regulator had earlier banned crypto ads as well.
“The ads must not appear again in the form complained about.”
Besides giving specific instructions to each company about what they must do to comply with its advertising standards in the future, the ASA ordered in all cases: The crypto ads must not appear again in the form complained about. The Papa John’s Pizza ad was a promotion on its website and Twitter. The famous pizza chain was giving away bitcoin with purchases in May. The company advertised “free bitcoin worth ?10.” With a purchase of ?30 or more, customers would save ?15 and get ?10 worth of bitcoin from crypto exchange Luno.
Coinbase’s advertisement was a paid-for Facebook ad.
The U.S-based crypto exchange giant Coinbase’s advertisement was a paid-for Facebook ad. It included the text: “?5 in bitcoin in 2010 would be worth over ?100,000 in January 2021. Don’t miss out on the next decade – get started on COINBASE today.” Luno’s ad was an in-app ad seen within the Daily Mail Online app, and it included text which states: “Invest in crypto for as little as ?1.” This was not the first time the ASA had a problem with ads by Luno. In May, the authority had banned the exchange’s “Time to Buy” bitcoin ads on London buses and the underground.
